Bonus Birthday

This past week Bob marked the fourth birthday since his stroke. I call these Bonus Birthdays and for good reason. In Semper Avanti we celebrate his first birthday in a dreary nursing home about ten weeks after he was found in that Virginia hotel room. He can barely talk, he is learning how to feed himself again and is stuck in a wheelchair, paralyzed on his right side. But despite the circumstance and in every way that counts it is the best birthday ever.

This birthday, light years away from that dreary nursing home, we relished the idea of having a normal birthday, just like everyone else. We did what Bob wanted to do, because, well, that’s what birthdays are for. We spent family time with our son, creating new memories with a shopping spree, umbrella drinks at lunch, and an afternoon at the movies. We relaxed in our own dining room over breaded veal cutlet, red wine and homemade chocolate cake. We talked about history, Dunkirk and baseball. It was a great weekend on many levels. Semper Avanti.